The Fault of a Certain Princess
by panda-kun77
Summary: It wasn't her fault for being curious. The familiars everyone had were so interesting that she felt envious enough to want one. It most CERTAINLY wasn't her fault when she summoned a blonde man with whisker marks who ended up assaulting her. That was truly unexpected! Although, maybe it was her fault for keeping him anyway...? After all, familiars are said to be loyal to a fault.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own both these respective anime. I do own any OCs that might pop up in the story. That is all.

**Summary: ** It wasn't her fault for being curious. The familiars everyone had were so interesting that she felt envious enough to want one. It most CERTAINLY wasn't her fault when she summoned a blonde man with whisker marks who ended up assaulting her. That was truly unexpected! Although, maybe it was her fault for keeping him anyway...? After all, familiars are said to be loyal to a fault.

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**The Fault of a Certain Princess**

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**Prologue**

Perhaps the lack of work that's been present over the last couple weeks was the reason behind Henrietta's recent evening activities. The issues governing most problems that cropped up in the country of Tristian were very few and had actually lessened unexpectedly in the past few days, leaving her very little to do around her home. The boredom that accompanied it was likely at fault as well. It certainly encouraged the young princess of Tristian to visit the castle's quiet gardens more often at night than she had ever done before in her life thus far. One would even find her there, gazing out into the distance, either lost in thought or seemingly admiring the peaceful scenery.

Truthfully, Henrietta's motives for being there weren't for just the pleasant view and a chance to take a relaxing stroll across the maze of alluring flower beds and sculptured stone decorations. No. She was there for a much more productive reason…

To practice Magic— the ancient art gifted to every magical born creature of the world.

However, today she was trying something different from her usual routine. Henrietta had recently received a letter from her childhood friend, Louise, which detailed the young pinkette's current life at the academy as well as the latest news and gossip. It was in that particular letter that she found herself contemplating a spell that had plagued her mind countless times before.

Familiar summoning.

The sacred art of summoning an entity from the magical plains was an art that Henrietta had long been fascinated with since she was little. Nobles of magical heritage and just about every capable mage had at some point in their life—usually at the tender age of 15 or so—summoned a familiar to their side; a loyal companion that was bound to the soul and fated to live their lives alongside their master. It was a standard and a tradition that the students followed in the academy, but not at all entirely a requirement that everyone practiced. She herself had never summoned a familiar before despite being the princess of her country, and she was content with that.

Well… until now that is.

Henrietta's natural curiosity was strangely overpowering as of late and thus, after much consideration and self-counseling, she decided that it was in her best interest to acquire a familiar. After all, Louise would be summoning her own in two months time so she might as well do the same. With this arrangement she would be able to connect more with her young friend and have something to share with in their next reunion.

So here she was amongst a bed of iris flowers, hidden from view by the large tree nearby, warming up with a few small spells as the evening's cool winds whispered around her. No one else was present in the garden, late as it was, and the moons were high enough in the sky for her to see things with a near perfect clarity.

Closing her eyes in concentration, once her latest spell had ended, Henrietta carefully chanted the words necessary for the summoning spell, evoking them calmly with practice ease.

"Oh great powers of the five elements, hear my call. From the majestic plains in which you reside to the void from there beyond, help this humble soul of this earthen land seek her companion of everlasting bond."

The winds picked up as her chanting continued and she felt the faintest of force tugging at her conscience, weaving a phantom rope that slowly encompassed her form. She took hold of it instinctively, believing its significance to the spell, and channeled more will into her long incantation, igniting her wand in a faint light that brightened every second and illuminated her surroundings.

"I beg of you all to lend me your aid and your wisdom. Guide to me a familiar of neither beauty nor power, but one possessing inner strength that'll never waver nor cower. I seek no other in this vast ocean of possibilities so please seek out this being that'll become mines now and forever. Open the door to this world I call home and come to me, your friend and master! I summon thee my destined familiar!"

Henrietta felt the pull of force reach its climax before settling into nothingness, prompting her to open one eye to seek safety followed by the other to confirm her success or failure. She was expecting to see a simple creature in front of her, small in size with wings and all, but instead found something that left her utterly baffled.

A tall blonde man, who looked no older than her, stood a few feet shy of her wand's reach. He was garbed in a mixture of strange, black and green clothes—the two dominant colors accentuating the orange scarf wrapped around his neck, protecting him from the evening's cold winds—with well defined arms crossed over his chest, fingers dribbling impatiently on a bicep. His brows were furrowed in concentration, however, as his eyes lay hidden from the world around him, underneath a peculiar metal-plated headband wrapped around his forehead, drawing attention to the thin markings adorning his cheeks and the small frown weighing his lips.

"_Hai, Hai,"_ He spoke suddenly, his first words sounding foreign and yet satisfyingly deep to hear despite the sarcasm lacing them. _"Hajimemashite, Uzumaki Naruto-desu. Dozo yoroshiku." _

When Henrietta failed to respond, deep, sapphire eyes opened to greet her, blinking rapidly in confusion at first before steadily widening into sizeable plates—ones that most likely mirrored her own.

"_Eto… Saru-san…?"_

They gaped at each other in utter silence, unmoving and all, until the cool winds grew impatient and decided to force action, caressing the red haired princess with its cold element and prompting her to regain some composure—returning the use of her voice that had disappeared unnoticed.

"Um, Hello!" She greeted cheerfully, albeit a bit more forceful than intended, hoping to start out friendly and at ease.

Unfortunately that was ruined before it could truly bear fruit as one minor detail escaped her attention…

She had forgotten to lower her wand.

Barely a second passed before Henrietta found herself flat on her back and facing the evening sky, disarmed of her wand and pinned by the blonde man she had trouble categorizing as either her familiar or some sort of thief who had coincidentally found his way into the castle. She was leaning more towards the latter when he straddled her unexpectedly and so sudden while procuring an odd weapon of sorts from somewhere to threaten her with, and yet, despite her logic and survival instincts telling her to do something, a very small part of her—one that remained enthralled and ever curious—held steadfast to the former and only felt mildly flustered by her predicament.

Considering how strange she was feeling, an excitement and confusion warring with growing curiosity, Henrietta enacted the only option she had available in her present dilemma. She raised her only free hand to his face and promptly chastised him across the cheek.

***pat***

"B-bad familiar…"

Well… it was timid and half-heartedly done, but can anyone blame her for not trying? She had reasons—good ones—for not wanting to do him harm! Not that she could do much against him, mind you, his much larger frame discouraged her quite a bit, admittedly. He didn't seem fazed by her physical scolding either, appearing more confused than anything, really, before it vanished with a shake of his head. Henrietta then retreated into herself as he settled once more into a look that can universally be understood as _'I'm going to ask questions because I'm as befuddled as you are right now, so listen well and give me an answer.' _

Sure enough his lips parted to speak…

"_Anata dare?"_

And out came words so gibberish that she belatedly recalled his previous attempt to communicate with her.

Alright, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to summon her familiar without supervision. She had little to no clue in solving the matter and was far more concerned of his intensifying gaze boring down on her. The near phantom heat was becoming unbearable with the passing time and any longer she might just unbutton her dress to retain some measure of comfort—balancing the inner flames with a touch of the blessed cold winds.

Refusing to do such an embarrassing thing, however, Henrietta wisely chose the only option still present.

***pat***

She chastised him once more, this time on the other cheek, and left it at that.

"Bad familiar, n-no staring!"

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Naruto blinked for what seemed like the hundredth time as the warm hand left his cheek and the stuttering voice accompanying it dying down seconds later, leaving him once more confused than before.

The woman he held at knife point, a real beauty that looked innocently uncertain and meek, was not the Saru-san that he was with just moments ago. His client had been a large, overly drunk, goat of an old man who resembled Tazuna in all but name, profession, and personality. Though he privately admitted that this girl was a better alternative than him, Naruto couldn't help but wonder how he got into this strange situation.

Thoughts raced rapidly to the forefront as the blonde recalled his memories from the time he awoke from his bed up to the present.

It had started out as a bright day in Konohagakure with the weather pleasantly inviting to those who enjoyed waking in the early mornings. He had eaten a very fitting meal before he left for his daily training at Training Ground 7 and had returned home early after successfully mastering several more ninjutsu for his already large arsenal of techniques. From there he had spent time seeking out friends to hang with, busy as they were, while fulfilling his personal errands of the day, mostly favors from long distance friends, before dropping by the Shinobi Academy to have an early lunch with Iruka. The academy teacher had never been happier to have him around during Naruto's off days. Apparently the fresh batch of shinobi hopefuls were more bothersome than he was back then to the chunnin instructor.

It was at the peak of the afternoon when the blonde had then been summoned to the Hokage's office for a long-term mission with Team Konohamaru. His baa-chan had given the usual lecture and debriefing before they were dismissed, and not long after that did Naruto depart from the gates of Konoha with his small team of chunnin in tow, all geared and ready for some fun. Their objective and client resided in Tanzaku town, a place Naruto was fairly familiar with, and had thus gotten their early enough to do some shopping. Naruto fondly remembered spending some time relaxing with his whole team—Moegi included—in the public baths of the inn, making mischief around the town, and then grabbing something to eat at the local market before they were summoned to meet their client.

Saru Saruyama, an interesting name for their client, was not someone that Naruto would call a pleasant person. Rightly so considering his first impression of him had been less than polite and cordial and more annoying and spiteful. The man had raged over their lack of punctuality when he himself didn't specify the exact time of their meeting and instead took to insulting their village. The man even had the gall to hit on Moegi, his surrogate little sister of 15 turning 16, right in front of him. Of course Naruto didn't take that lightly and thus responded in kind by attempting to charm the lovely woman who claimed to be his assistant, all the while barring the man's lecherous attempts towards his young kunoichi.

Needless to say, the young jounin's expectations for the mission had dropped considerably in just the first few minutes of their meeting alone. In fact, Naruto really regretted ever taking the stupid escort mission…

So it was with a mixture of surprise, relief, and panic that Naruto found himself in present company of a beautiful woman right after his 'formal' introduction with the merchant, which promptly led to his current predicament and the accumulating concerns hanging above his head. The most prominent of them involving his favorite chunnin team—he left them with that creep!

_Seriously, what the hell happened?_

The squirming beneath him returned his attention to the pretty girl he threatened… er, captured—subdued! Yes, _subdued_ was a more proper way to put it. She had pointed an odd stick at him earlier, ridiculous as it was, and he reacted instinctively by following the standard procedures when facing a potential enemy. There's nothing wrong with being a little safe, right? Especially around innocent, pretty girls like her. For all he knew, she could be an enemy in disguise and this could simply be genjutsu…

"If this was a genjutsu then Kurama would've warned me already," He berated himself loudly. "Speaking of which… you there Buddy? Kurama, hello…?"

When no response came, both audibly and internally, the blonde cursed inwardly and focused on his prisoner, loosening his hold over her wrist to relieve the pain that he seemed to have inflicted upon her, all the while making a mental note to check on his tenant later. He didn't know what exactly happened to the usually talkative fox, but he'll find out soon enough. Right now he needed some answers— and fast!

"Alright, I really don't want to be mean, but you gotta work with me here," He told her as clearly and nicely as he could. "I don't know who the hell you are and where the hell this is… actually, where the hell _is_ here?" He glanced up reflexively to take in the sky and promptly blanked out, eyes enlarging and mouth dropping ever so slowly. It was only with the alien words spoken by his prisoner, and her constant poking of his cheek, that Naruto broke from his temporary stupor long enough to express his findings in the usual way he could.

"HOLY SHIT! THERE'S TWO MOONS!"

Awestruck and beyond confounded, the blonde disregarded nearly everything else in favor of raising the girl up to eye level and promptly exclaiming in panic. "Where the hell am I? Who the hell are you? Why the hell are there two moons? What the hell is with the castle?"

The girl did nothing but share his equal confusion as her delicate brows knitted in worry and cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. And when she did speak it was done in the language he likened to slurs spoken by drunkards; utterly incomprehensible, albeit far more musical and pleasant to his ears.

Still…

"Speak properly, damn it! I can't understand a word you're saying!" The poor blonde cried out helplessly. "Kami, help me!"

So lost in panic, Naruto didn't realize that his captive had wriggled free from his grasp just enough to retrieve the stick he had set nearby, placing it rather gently to his temple as quiet words escaped beneath her breath, igniting a soft ethereal glow at the very tip of her stick. By the time the blonde regained his wit, she had already finished chanting, casting the wand aside in haste as her warm hands once more cupped his whiskered-cheeks, firmly holding him in place. He barely noted the fire and anticipation burning in her eyes before the lips he hadn't noticed approaching met his own in an innocent, delicate kiss.

"Mm-MM!?"

Uzumaki Naruto felt a deep blankness overtake a part of his mind for the second time that night, and he had absolutely no clue why a trained shinobi like him was caught so off guard! The kiss lasted no longer than a few second and yet that seemed to be enough to completely render him speechlessly unresponsive. What the hell!

As the purplette slowly withdrew, a flushed smile playing across her moistened lips, Naruto looked on silently, his mouth agape and eyes as wide as an owl's.

"I've dreamt of this day for so long…" She spoke softly as she reached out to ruffle his golden hair contently. "Forgive me if I was bit rough with the kiss. I was making certain that I performed it properly."

The blonde worked his jaw several times but still couldn't find what words to say. He settled with a simple, bewildered stare.

"I know that we can't communicate properly," She continued, slightly hesitant. "But rest assured that this is normal. I've read it in a book once and my mother had told me of how things worked with the ritual."

When her head patting ceased, Naruto closed his mouth with an audible 'click' and listened closely. For some reason or another, that was the only thing he could do for the moment as she tapped her lips thoughtfully. He had a feeling that if he remained quiet he'd get answers.

"It is very strange, however, that I would summon a human. Usually it'd be a creature of some sort from somewhere in this world or of the void. Though there is still plenty of summons out there that hadn't been discovered yet so perhaps you're one of them…? Or maybe…"

The blonde listened no further as one particular word caught his attention. The word 'summon' echoed very clearly in Naruto's mind and soon enough he found his voice.

"YOU SUMMONED ME!?" He all but shouted, startling the red head from her musings.

She blinked several times. "You… you can understand me?"

"Well, yea! Now I can… but what's the deal summoning me? How did you even do it?" So many more questions threatened to escape his lips all at once that Naruto felt hard pressed to decided which one was more appropriate.

Rather than gaining an answer that he was expecting, the purple haired girl surprised him by taking hold of his hands in hers and drew herself close, large eyes sparkling with delight. She almost looked like one of those medical researchers back in Konoha, who wore similar expressions when they suddenly discovered something fascinating, which probably wasn't far from the truth. The blonde had to lean back quite a bit to avoid her lips when she did so. He didn't want to lose his thoughts again no matter how pleasant the experience was!

"T-this is wonderful!" She began excitedly. "I have never read or seen a familiar capable of speech—mind you they weren't humanoids like yourself—so you must truly be a unique one… perhaps a first of your kind! I wonder if the final ritual procedure had anything to do with this. Or perhaps my incantation and all my prayers were answered! Oh, if so, Founder I thank you for this blessing!"

Releasing him to clasp her blushing cheeks, the purplette swung her head side to side giddily. It was cute, but totally not helping him. Naruto had to physically shake her by the shoulders and instruct her to breathe before he could get her attention, and even then she still seemed too distracted to respond.

"…So, can you answer me now or do you need more time to um, calm down?" He asked uncertainly a few minutes later.

"O-oh yes, your question, yes. That's right." Pausing briefly to glance at the sky, Henrietta tap the side of her head thoughtfully with a finger. "Um, you wanted to know who I am, correct? Well, hm… how shall I do this…"

Naruto groaned and shook his head. "Just introduce yourself already! You're wasting time here!"

"Oh, very well," She pouted and cleared her throat, straightened her posture to introduce herself. "My name is Henrietta de Tristian, princess of this country, Tristain. It's a pleasure to meet you, um…"

"Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde answered eagerly to her inquiring look. "Okay, we know each other, now can we move on to my questions?"

"Um…"

"Awesome," He cut in. "So tell me why you summoned me here? _Where_ is here? And most importantly, when can I go back? I was in a middle of a mission and left my team behind—Baa-chan's going to kill me if I don't get back to them soon!"

Henrietta blinked a few times and gave him a strange look. "Um, to start with, I summoned you here to become my familiar; a magical companion of sorts."

Naruto raised a brow at this. "You mean like an animal summon?" The word Familiar had been very common in one of the foreign literatures he'd read in the past year; a term associating itself with magic and fairytales of some kingdom far west of the elemental nations. The blonde had compared Familiars to Animal Summons due to their nature and similar concepts. Maybe she preferred using the word _Familiar_ because it sounded more intelligent and proper for her noble status? That certainly made a lot more sense.

"That's rather specific but I suppose that's one way to put it." Henrietta agreed, smiling more comfortably and visibly relaxed her shoulders.

"In that case, where the hell did you learn a jutsu like that?" He asked curiously. "I only know two ways; one requires a scroll and the other an animal contract. Did you use some super secret summoning contract or something?"

"…You can say that." She allowed as she rubbed her wrist lightly. She appeared to want to add something but stopped short.

"Alright, I'll go along with that then." The blonded decided. He was still very much curious, but for the moment he needed to move things along as quickly as he could. "So where is here exactly?"

"My home in Tristan! Although, more specifically in my garden. I would've summoned you in my room where it's nice and cozy, however, I wasn't sure what you'll turn out to be. I've heard some familiars can be as tall as a castle or as wild as a crazed dragon. I didn't want to disturb everyone in the castle if that were so."

"Tristain doesn't ring any bells. Is it somewhere in the west of the elemental countries?" Regardless of the moons hanging above him, Naruto was still adamant in accepting the present reality he was in; he just couldn't! "It has to be right?"

Henrietta shook her head slowly in response, brows knitting in slight worry. "I'm afraid I don't know any elemental countries that you speak of. I've never gone overseas before, and neither have I travelled far beyond my countries borders. As far as I know Helkeginia does not have any country called 'Elemental…'"

Naruto's thoughts raced as anxiety slowly reared its ugly head. The more she answered, the harder it was to deny the suspicion he held about his current situation. He only hoped good news would come in the next answer.

"Naruto-san?"

He gulped none-too subtly. "Yea, I got it. There's no elemental country here… and considering the two moons up there, I can believe that." He took a calming breath, at least as close to it as he can manage, and nodded rather stiffly. "Okay, so when can I leave—err, go home? There's like a time limit to this jutsu of yours, right? How much longer do I have to stay here?"

This time, Henrietta was the one to fall silent, further adding anxiety to the foreboding feeling he was getting.

"Henrietta-san…?"

"Um, about that…"

Something in the tone of her voice just about dropped a cold lump of ice down his throat and into his gut. This was further enforced when she clasped her hands together on her lap and looked away somewhat conflicted.

Foreboding feelings amplified.

Taking a deep gulp to clear his voice, Naruto sat up straighter, a hesitant look overcoming his eyes. "…What is it?"

The red haired glanced momentarily at him before releasing a heavy sigh, one that held deeply, seeded regret. "Naruto-san, I don't know how to say this but… I'm afraid you won't be able to return home."

"What do you mean?" He asked warningly, his eyes narrowing at her. "You brought me here didn't you? You could do whatever you did again and send me back. Just like the summoning jutsu…. right?"

"Jutsu?" She inquired curiously. "You're mistaken; I used _magic _to bring you here."

"Okay, _magic _then. So why can't you send me back?"

She bit her lower lip and locked eyes with him. "…it's because the familiar summoning is what you would call 'a one-way trip.' There is no going back. I'm sorry."

Hearing it spoken was like glass shattering in Naruto's mind. All he could manage was a long 'oooh' before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and promptly passed out. Rather than panic like he had intended, the blonde shinobi of Konoha simply chose oblivion.

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**EDIT: 2/24/2013 - **Fixed somethings here and there and added a few more words.

**A/N:** Hey all here's a new x-over you guys can have fun reading. This is a response to one of **AznPuffyHair'**s x-over challenge. I thought I'd take it up since I'm also curious and a bit adventurous. Hopefully this'll be fun for you as it is for me.

Leave a review to let me know what you think. I'll see you guys later. Gotta go to court for an assignment, hehehee... I'm never going to post fics this late at night - .

P.S. my other works are in progress so just be patient ;3


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